Reminiscing about the Kennedy Town Piers
The Western District Public Cargo Working Area (to give it its official name) is a place dear to my heart. I stumbled upon it one night by accident. Noticing a steady stream of people entering what looked like a construction-site entrance, my partner and I, our curiosity piqued, decided to follow. It led us to a working pier with bamboo poles, palettes, containers stacked high and the inky night sea spread out before us. It didn’t feel like Hong Kong. It was so open, so breezy, so tantalisingly close to the water, and yet all around us were the familiar markers of the city—the bunched up residential towers of Kennedy Town to our left, Kowloon across the harbour to our right with its ports, highways, high-rise buildings, and the dark hulking masses of Hong Kong hills just visible behind the skyscrapers. It felt as if we had stumbled onto some magical hideout where the only rule was that everyone finally had the space to just be.
Strangely, I forgot about the Public Cargo Working Area for a few years, until one day, on a walk to escape my low spirits, I remembered it and decided to see if it was still there. It was, and it was still glorious. It made me happy to be there and it soon became a regular destination for my walks. Just sauntering in, seeing the sky, the sea, the bobbing cargo ships docked there, and smelling the sea air made me feel instantly calmer.
It saddens me that the pier is now closed to the public. It was a special space and when I visit the newer piers I write about in my photo essay, I often walk right to the edge of the Public Cargo Working Area and look longingly in, remembering the strange collections of people that would gather there—the joggers, the couples, the lone fishing enthusiasts, the dog walkers, the skateboarders, the drone operators playing with their latest model, and the photographers chasing the perfect sunset. One time, there was even a man who set up a sound system at the edge of the pier and deejayed a set of chill vibe music as the sun went down behind him. The Public Cargo Working Area had been transformed into Ibiza! But I exaggerate. A small crowd had gathered to listen, but I don’t recall anyone dancing. It’s not easy to turn Hong Kongers into party-goers.
I miss these strange occurrences and I miss that view of the open sea. No buildings, no cars, no humans. Perhaps a ferry would cut across the water, but it was just the sea, the sky, and the odd island or two in the distance. I shed many a worry as I breathed in that view. Your petty life tends to fall away in the presence of beauty.
The new piers will never match up, but with their pretty harbor views, they aren’t too bad as a substitute. Now that a path has opened up between the piers and Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park in Sai Ying Pun, you can enjoy a lovely walk along the water from Kennedy Town all the way to the Macau Ferry Terminal. If you navigate yourself through the Macau Ferry Terminal building, you can even walk all the way to IFC in Central (though this leg of the journey may not always be close to the water or as pleasant as the Kennedy Town-to-Macau Ferry Terminal section). Overall, it makes for a great urban walk when the intensity of Hong Kong begins to get to you.
How to reach these piers:
Nearest MTR: Island Line, HKU station, Exit B2
You can also start at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park (Island Line, Sai Ying Pun station, Exit A2) and walk westwards following the waterfront promenade.
If you need lunch or dinner in the area:
3G Whitty Building
Belcher’s Street
Hong Kong Kennedy Town
+852 2819 5568
It’s a little rough, but a great example of a good and popular neighbourhood restaurant. It will be loud, busy, overly bright, and the service brusque but efficient. The food will be hearty and reasonably priced. They do have a limited English menu and maybe one of the waiters might speak a little English (don't expect the waitresses to, though). Order the braised goose with bean curd and the crispy oyster omelette. The seafood soup with egg white is soothing and reliable; and the pig intestine and white pepper soup is a tasty house specialty. There is also a pickled lime and 7UP drink to try, if you fancy a salty lemonade.
Further Reading:
In Karen Cheung’s memoir The Impossible City, she writes of spending some of her university days at the Public Cargo Working Area.
